Representing GIAN and the Honey Bee Network’s work in Grassroots Innovations, Dr. Anamika Dey recently participated at the Global Social Innovation Indaba in South Africa from 30th September to 2nd October, organised in partnership with Social Innovation Exchange (SIX) a UK-registered organisation. The conference gathered the best minds from around the globe to discuss how to creatively tackle the interconnected challenges together in Bloemfontein, the judicial capital of South Africa and home of UFS.
Dr. Anamika participated as one of the panelists on ‘People Power in Action: Stories from Around the World’, current examples of people power in action from India, Kenya, and Bangladesh and discussed the key features of these movements. The other panelists were Tessa Dooms, Director, Rivonia Circle, and Laura Ekumbo, LAM Sisterhood. Tessa is a governance and policy expert. She spoke about the need to update the definition of democracy and better integrate intersectionality while creating policies for change. Laura is an artist and an entrepreneur. She presents African stories and culture through performing arts. Wonderfully! It was an all-women panel which was empowering.
Dr. Anamika spoke about the work being done in Grassroots Innovation in India and the work GIAN is doing. For instance, a current project with DBT is on understanding and discovering uses for Himalayan Bio-resources along with scientifically validating traditional knowledge. The aim is to set up enterprises at local levels using local resources for sustainable livelihood.
When asked about her views on the downside of capitalism, Dr. Anamika answered, that socialism helps fill the gaps left behind by capitalism. It helps create unique new opportunities and hence capitalism isn’t necessarily bad. This answer was much appreciated at the conference as it brought out a new perspective of looking at things.
The three-day event was full of hearing new perspectives, learning about the work ongoing in social innovation worldwide, immersing in art and culture, and seeing its power. A few other interesting sessions were on ‘What Will It Take to Build a 21st Century Society (and Economy) That Is People-Powered?’, which prompted people to think about the potential roles of different sectors and organisations in building a society fit for the future.
An interactive session on ‘The ‘How’ of People-Powered Change’ saw participants working in small working groups to dive into systemic approaches to the thematic challenges. What does people-powered change look like in different contexts? What are the examples of innovative and systemic approaches? How do they collaborate with different actors/sectors?
The conference also emphasised the importance of arts as a way of understanding and connecting with each other better. Napo Masheane, Artistic Director at the Performing Arts Centre of the Free State (South Africa) showcased this with her performance of poems on the plight and fortitude of African women. Her performance deeply resonated with everyone, breaking all barriers of language and geography.
More details can be found at https://www.si-indaba.com/schedule/a-global-social-innovation-indaba
The conference explored what it takes to build resilient, people-powered communities and places, and shape the institutions we need to build a society fit for the next generation. It served as a playing ground for creating a larger global network for social innovations, bringing some of the most respected people working in this area from all over the world into one room.
Dr. Anamika had a chance to speak with Markus Lux, Vice President of Special Division Ukraine, and Robert Bosch Stiftung about GIAN and Honey Bee Networks initiatives and philosophy, moving towards a possible future collaboration. An interaction with Louise Pulford, CEO, SIX was also fruitful with discussion for potential future collaborations.
The conference was a reassertion about adding more seats at the table and moving towards inclusion as Prof. Anil Gupta encapsulates, ‘Minds on the Margin are not Marginal Minds’.
